Merry X'mas 2011

Star Wars Vintage Landspeeder Diecast

"Ever since the XP-38 came out,
they just aren't in demand" ― Luke Skywalker









The X-34 was an open-air cockpit civilian landspeeder famously owned by Luke Skywalker. Landspeeders are fictional antigravity craft used through the Star Wars movies & the Expanded Universe.












The most overlooked Star Wars collectibles from Kenner’s in the 80's was it's eleven diecast metal vehicles. All the vehicles were from Star Wars & The Empire Strikes Back movies. Most of these vehicles featured some moving or removable parts, making it difficult to find loose mint versions of tis toys. Quality wise, it’s not as realistic or detailed as those from the 90′s. But, I feel is a much cooler piece to have!












The diecast series included:
Land Speeder
X-Wing
TIE Fighter
Darth Vadar’s TIE Fighter
Millenium Falcon
Star Destroyer
TIE Bomber
Y-Wing
Slave 1
Snowspeeder
Twin-pod Cloud car

My Childhood Star Wars Memorabilia

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away… (1977, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to be precise). I was a seven years old boy gazing at the 20 feet tall frame of Darth Vader on the cinema screen & I knew right away he was one badass! I saw Star Wars three times that month, & it went on to play a huge role in my childhood, it taught me tat the force was all around me & you say "May the force be with you" rather then good bye!



Before I had the action figure I had this Polaroid that meant the world to me! The lighting was not perfect & it would have been better if Vader & Stormtrooper had switched places… It was taken at retail store where the action figures were sold. I am glad my parents spend their hard earned money for this photo, it is better then any Star Wars toys that I have!



Here is half of my Empire Strikes Back ticket from August 1981. Back when tickets were tickets & not a electronically stub! & when you only had to pay RM$2.50 for a movie. The cinema ran a "Know your robot" contest at that time for some unrelated soft drink prizes.






For those who were able to catch the first round of Star Wars like me… it was truly a very special magical time & I don't think it will ever wear off... May the force be with us!

November 2011 Loot

Soldier Story: 1st Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment In Afghanistan
3A: Vanilla Pod Tomorrow Queen
3A: Princess Tomorrow Queen
3A: Pathfinder Oya TK Ono (BBICN Exclusive)

Transformers The Ride

EVAC, Protect the Allspark!



Visually stunning like the movies, pity it was a bit short, but still good fun!

Star Wars Vintage Cloud Car Diecast

The Cloud Car made its first appearance in The Empire Strikes Back. Unique to the Cloud City of Bespin, the twin-pod cloud car is a simple, fast vehicle, ideal for atmospheric flight in the singular environment of gas. A small fleet of these vehicles patrols the skies around Bespin, escorting unfamiliar vehicles to secure landing pads, and defending the city against occasional pirate attacks. They were a common sight in Cloud City on Bespin.













The most overlooked Star Wars collectibles from Kenner’s in the 80's was it's eleven diecast metal vehicles. All the vehicles were from Star Wars & The Empire Strikes Back movies. Most of these vehicles featured some moving or removable parts, making it difficult to find loose mint versions of tis toys. Quality wise, it’s not as realistic or detailed as those from the 90′s. But, I feel is a much cooler piece to have!









The diecast series included:
Land Speeder
X-Wing
TIE Fighter
Darth Vadar’s TIE Fighter
Millenium Falcon
Star Destroyer
TIE Bomber
Y-Wing
Slave 1
Snowspeeder
Twin-pod Cloud car

Star Wars Vintage Millenium Falcon Diecast

"You know, that ship's saved my life quite a few times. She's the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy!"
― Lando Calrissian

The Millennium Falcon began life as a standard Corellian Engineering Corporation YT-1300 stock freighter, it later became famous as the personal smuggling starship of Han Solo & Chewbacca. Won by Solo from the hands of Lando Calrissian in the Cloud City Sabacc Tournament. Its dilapidated exterior appearance is due to the many adventures and upgrades it endured under both Calrissian and Solo command (& the wear & tear from long hours of play).
















The most overlooked Star Wars collectibles from Kenner’s in the 80's was it's eleven diecast metal vehicles. All the vehicles were from Star Wars & The Empire Strikes Back movies. Most of these vehicles featured some moving or removable parts, making it difficult to find loose mint versions of tis toys. Quality wise, it’s not as realistic or detailed as those from the 90′s. But, I feel is a much cooler piece to have!


















The diecast series included:
Land Speeder
X-Wing
TIE Fighter
Darth Vadar’s TIE Fighter
Millenium Falcon
Star Destroyer
TIE Bomber
Y-Wing
Slave 1
Snowspeeder
Twin-pod Cloud car

My Vintage Star Wars Carded Figures

Every saga has a beginning, & for Star Wars action figure collectors it all began in 1977 with a small toy company from Cincinnati, Ohio known as KENNER!



The Kenner Star Wars line included 3 3/4” figures, a selection of ships, play sets, & twelve Large Size 12" action figures. All of which went on to be shipped world wide from 1978 to 1985. The toys were packaged over those years under the titles Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, & The Power of the Force (character specific collectors coins were packaged exclusively with each figure). Tats over 300 million Star Wars action figures sold.



The toy line was reintroduced in 1995 and called 'Power of the Force' (also known as Power of the Force 2 in collecting circles to differentiate it from the original 1985 line). Kenner produced these figures as a subsidiary of Hasbro from 1995 through 1998 until its Cincinnati, Ohio office was closed in 1999. The remaining two years of the line (1999 and 2000) were produced and labeled as a Hasbro product, as they are done today. Hasbro continues to produce toys relating to all six Star Wars films.



As I only collect loose Star Wars figures, I was surprise to find 5 carded Star Wars figures among my toys. The card designs is just pure timeless classic, a work of art! Hasbro, knows it & have their new "Classic cards" series to lured collectors in. I must admit I'm very tempted to start on Hasbro figures with vintage card design. They are making so many figure that were not available back then… Tempting as it is, but it will only lead one to the Dark Side & worse… into a state of poverty!



By 1985, a total of 92 figures (excluding production variations) were released by Kenner, but they did much more than sold the Star Wars toys, they shaped most of our childhoods, and allowed us to live in a galaxy far, far away…

Ron English Super Size Me

Remember the great movie Supersize Me? A documentary film on the Fast Food Nation that is America, where the filmmaker experiments on himself by eating MacD meals 3 times a day for 30 days! One of the famous artworks from Ron English's Popaganda is very fitting for the subject matter of this film, coincidentally called Super Size Me.




As an extension of the graphic, Ron English x SECRET BASE x TOY TOKYO made many colour versions of the Super Size Me toy. Currently I only have the X-Ray Mc Super Sized in Hamburger version. All of these toys are made in Japan instead of China, a market abnormality tis days! & The signature styles of SECRET BASE transparency finishing can be clearly seen in most of their toys.